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Need to know: Ukrainian protesters topple Lenin

Statue in Kiev heralded historic bond between Ukraine and Russia

Sergei Chuzavkov/AP

The story
Ukrainian protesters screamed in the streets for the resignation of President Viktor Yanukovych, the pro-Russia leader who turned away from trade with the European Union and toward Ukraine’s former Soviet ally to the east. Rarely are protests so perfectly symbolic as an attack by a group of demonstrators on an 11-foot statue of Soviet revolutionary Vladimir Lenin—a “symbol of Ukraine’s shared history with Russia,” writes the U.K.’s The Telegraph. The demonstrators toppled the statue, decapitated its head, and handed out remnants to onlookers.

The stat
500,000: the estimated number of protesters, by some counts, who took to the streets in Kiev’s central square

The quote
“It’s not just a simple revolution. It’s a revolution of dignity.” —Oleh Tyahnybok, a leader of the opposition Svoboda party

 

What’s above the fold

The Globe and Mail Canadian judges are refusing to force offenders to pay victim fees.
National Post
Protesters in Ukraine toppled a statue of Lenin.
Toronto Star The Harper government‘s approach to social programs is changing Canada.
Ottawa Citizen At least 200,000 protesters gathered in Kiev, Ukraine.
CBC News A Calgary woman with dementia was “warehoused” in hospital.
CTV News South Africa’s Parliament opened special session for Nelson Mandela.
National Newswatch Conservatives in tight ridings are nervous about their re-elections.

 

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